Introduction:
1. Omar N. Bradley, A Soldier’s Story, New York: Henry Holt, 1951, pp. 233–235.
2. Stephen E. Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890–1952, Volume I, New York: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1983; Mark Bando, 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy, Osceola, WI: MBI Publishing, 2001, p. 36.
3. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe, New York: Doubleday, 1948.
4. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Greenwich, CT: Fawcett, 1962, pp. 889–938; Peter Young, ed., Illustrated World War II Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, Westport, CT: H.S. Stuttman, 1978, pp. 81–100.
5. Shirer, pp. 892–894; Martin Gilbert, The Second World War: A Complete History, New York: Henry Holt, 1989, pp. 53–55.
6. Thomas A. Johnson, History of Development of Airborne Instruction at the Quartermaster School, 1947–1953, Fort Lee, VA: Army Quartermaster School, 1962, p. 4.
7. Gen. Sir John Hackett, Colonel-General Kurt Student, in Corelli Barnett, ed., Hitler’s Generals, New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1989, p. 468.
8. Hackett, p. 467–468; Charles L. Day, Silent Ones, WWII: Invasion Glider Test and Experiment, Clinton County Army Airfield, Wilmington, Ohio, privately published, 2001, p. 3.
9. “Dutch and Belgians Resist Nazi Drive; Allied Forces March In to do Battle; Chamberlain Resigns, Churchill Premier,” New York Times, May 11, 1940.
10. “World War–Western Theatre–Hitler’s Hour.” Time. May 20, 1940.
12. Gordon A. Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack: The U.S. Army in World War II—The European Theater, Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1951 (reprinted 1993), p. 51.
13. Young, ed., Illustrated World War II Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 241–260.
Chapter 1: “The Germans’ Brilliant Idea”
1. Hackett, pp. 463–466.
2. Johnson, p. 3.
3. Bart Hagerman, ed., USA Airborne: 50th Anniversary—1940–1990, Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing, 1990, p. 26.
4. Johnson, p. iii.
5. Gerard M. Devlin, Silent Wings: The Saga of the U.S. Army and Marine Combat Glider Pilots During World War II, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985, pp. 1–7; “Media Guide to the History of Gliding and Soaring by United States Soaring Teams,” USA Soaring Team, August 7, 2004.
6. Johnson, pp. 2–3.
7. Brian Nolan, Airborne: The Heroic Story of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in the Second World War, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995, p. 7.
8. Nolan, p. 7; Johnson, pp. 2–3.
9. Hagerman, p. 31; J.T. Ellis, The Airborne Command and Center, Washington, D.C.: Army Ground Forces, Historical Section, Study Number 25, 1946; www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wtryder.
10. Hagerman, pp. 31–32; J.T. Ellis,; www.wwiiadt.org/History/FirstJump.
11. Johnson, p. 5; www.b-westerns.com/geronimo.
12. Johnson, p. 5.
13. Shirer, pp. 996–1026.
14. Gregor Ferguson, The Paras, Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1984, p. 2.
15. www.justordinarymen.org.uk.
16. Ferguson, p. 4; www.paradata.org.uk/people/William-kenneth-marfleet.
17. Ferguson, p. 4.
18. Ferguson, pp. 4, 9.
19. www.paradata.org.uk/people/William-kenneth-marfleet.
20. Day, p. 74.
21. Day, pp. 4–11; Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 39–58.
22. Day, p. 7.
23. Ibid.
24. Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 39–58.
25. Day, pp. 6–8.
Chapter 2: Training a Brit Paratrooper
1. Ferguson, pp. 2–4.
2. Thomas E. Davies, “My Story—1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment,” found at www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/72/a3530972.shtml.
3. Ibid.
4. Hilary St. George Saunders, The Red Beret: The Story of the Parachute Regiment at War 1940–45, Nashville, TN: Battery Press, 1985, pp. 28–29, 34.
5. Davies.
6. H.S.G. Saunders, p. 34.
7. John Ellis, The Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II, New York: Scribner’s, 1980, pp. 57–58.
8. Davies.
9. H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 28–29.
10. H.S.G. Saunders, p. 35; Devlin, Silent Wings, p. 236.
11. www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/Frederick_browning.
12. Ferguson, p. 5; Davies.
13. Ferguson, p. 5.
14. Ibid.
15. Ellis, The Sharp End, pp. 57–58.
16. www.justordinarymen.org.uk.
17. H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 17–25; Ferguson, p. 5.
18. Hackett, p. 472; Hagerman, pp. 32–34; George Forty, Battle of Crete, Hinckley, UK: Ian Allan Publishing, 2004.passim; “The Invasion of Crete,” After the Battle, Issue #47; Peter Antill, Crete, 1941: Germany’s Lightning Airborne Assault, London: Osprey, 2005, passim.
19. Shirer, passim.
20. Hagerman, p. 34.
21. Jean P. Pallud, “The Invasion of Crete,” After the Battle, Issue #47, passim.
22. Ferguson, p. 6, 8.
23. Max Arthur, Men of the Red Beret: Airborne Forces 1940–1990, London: Hutchinson, 1990, p. xvi; H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 36–38.
24. H.S.G. Saunders, p. 37.
25. Davies.
26. Ferguson, p. 6.
27. Ibid, p. 9; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 72.
28. H.S.G. Saunders, p. 72.
29. Shirer, p. 1139.
30. Gerard M. Devlin, Paratrooper! The Saga of U.S. Army and Marine Parachute and Glider Combat Troops During World War II, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1979, pp. 113–114.
31. H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 55–70; “The Bruneval Raid,” After the Battle, Issue #13, 1976.
32. Ferguson, p. 4.
33. Ibid, p. 8.
Chapter 3: America Joins the Fight
1. “The Story of the 101st Airborne Division,” Paris, Stars and Stripes, 1945.
2. Hagerman, pp. 37–38.
3. www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft.
4. Fred T. Jane, Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War II, London: Studio, 1946, passim.
5. George Chatterton, The Wings of Pegasus: The Story of the Glider Pilot Regiment, Nashville, TN: The Battery Press, 1982, pp. 36–37.
6. H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 79–80.
7. Ferguson, p. 8.
8. Dalton Einhorn, From Toccoa to the Eagle’s Nest: Discoveries in the Bootsteps of the Band of Brothers, privately published, 2009, pp. 31–47.
9. Don Malarkey, Easy Company Soldier: The Legendary Battles of a Sergeant from World War II’s “Band of Brothers.” New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008, pp. 38–40.
10. Dick Winters, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, New York: Berkeley Caliber, 2006, p. 25.
11. Joe Doughty, interview by author September 14, 2007.
12. The Story of the 101st Airborne Division, p. 5.
13. Doughty interview.
14. Lewis Milkovics, ed., The Devils Have Landed, Longwood, FL: Creative Printing & Publishing, Inc., 1993, p. 219.
15. Devlin, Paratrooper, pp. 117–118.
16. Phil Nordyke, The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War, St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2006, pp. 23–30.
17. Matthew B. Ridgway and Harold H. Martin, Soldier: The Memoirs of Matthew B. Ridgway, New York: Harper, 1956, p. 65.
18. Malarkey, p. 62; Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992, p. 41.
Chapter 4: Canada: Standing Guard
1. Nolan, pp. 12–13; Bernd Horn and Stephen J. Harris, eds., Warrior Chiefs: Perspectives on Senior Canadian Military Leaders, Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2000, pp. 144–151.
2. Nolan, pp. 12–14.
3. Gary Boegel C., Boys of the Clouds: An Oral History of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, 1942–45, Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 2005, p. 27.
4. Ibid, pp. 9–22.
5. Ibid, p. 33.
6. Ibid, p. 24.
8. Allen C. Barger, War and People, Port Orchard, WA: privately printed, 1999, p. 14.
9. Nolan, pp. 32–35.
10. Boegle, p. 31.
12. Boegel, p. 13.
14. Nolan, p. 36–37.
15. Canadian Army Training Memorandum, No. 24, March 1943.
16. Nolan, pp. 38–39.
17. Boegel, p. 69.
18. Nolan, pp. 41–42, 49.
19. Arthur, p. 135.
20. Boegel, p. 36.
21. Ibid, pp. 71–72.
22. H.S.G. Saunders, p. 152.
23. Nolan, pp. 49–54.
24. Boegel, p. 108.
25. Ibid, pp. 105–106.
26. Ibid, p. 110
27. Nolan, pp. 49–54.
28. Arthur, pp. 135–136.
29. Bernd Horn and Michel Wyczynski, Tip of the Spear: An Intimate Account of 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion 1942–1945, A Pictorial History, Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2002, p. 155.
30. Arthur, p. 136.
31. Nolan, p. 54.
32. Boegel, p. 72.
33. Ibid, p. 80.
34. Ibid, p. 99.
35. Ibid, pp. 85–86.
36. Ibid, pp. 82–83.
37. Ibid, p. 102.
38. Ibid, p. 99.
39. Arthur, p. 136.
40. Nolan, pp. 31–32.
42. Michael E. Haskew, Encyclopedia of Elite Forces in the Second World War, London: Amber Books, 2007, pp. 9–10.
43. Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr. and Friedrich von Stauffenberg, The Battle of Sicily: How the Allies Lost Their Chance for Total Victory, New York: Orion Books, 1991, pp. 67, 69
44. J.T. Ellis, p. 57.
46. Boegel, p. 96.
47. Ibid, p. 95.
Chapter 5: Getting Gliders Off the Ground
1. Army Air Forces Historical Studies No. 47, “Development & Procurement of Gliders in the Army Air Forces 1941–1944,” Washington, D.C.: AAF Historical Office, (undated), pp. 26, 62.
3. Day, pp. 74–75, 81–84; Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 66–67; Army Air Forces Historical Studies No. 47, p.153.
4. Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 66–67.
5. Ibid, pp. 63–65; Day, p. 81.
6. Army Air Forces Historical Studies No. 47, pp. 81–82, 92, 165.
7. Ibid, p. 91.
8. Ibid, pp. 92–95.
9. Ibid, pp. 105–107.
10. Ibid, pp. 95–98.
11. Ibid, pp. 104–105.
12. Ibid, pp. 98–100.
13. Florence Shinkle, “The Day of the Big Glider Crash; St. Louis Mayor and Nine Others Died on Aug. 1, 1943,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 4, 1975.
14. Army Air Forces Historical Studies No. 47, p. 103.
15. Ibid, p. 105.
Chapter 6: The Germans on the Defensive
1. Harrison, pp. 25, 246–267.
2. Anthony Saunders, Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, Thrupp, UK: 2001, pp. 11–24.
3. Basil H. Liddell-Hart, History of the Second World War, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1970, pp. 469–470.
4. Harrison, pp. 236–242; Anthony Saunders, pp. 21–37, 77; Devlin, Silent Wings, p. 174.
5. Alexandre Renaud, Sainte-Mère-Église: First American Bridgehead in France, Saint-Lô: Jacqueline, 1964, pp. 34–35.
Chapter 7: The “All Americans” Prepare
1. Ed Ruggero, The First Men In: U.S. Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day. New York: Harper, 2006, pp. 62–63.
2. “Colonel Roy E. Lindquist, Pioneer Paratrooper, Leads 508th Regiment,” Devil’s Digest, April 9, 1945.
3. Wayne T. Burns and Leland Burns, Jump Into the Valley of the Shadow: The World War II Memories of a Paratrooper in the 508th P.I.R., 82nd Airborne Division, Philadelphia: Casemate Publishers, 2006, p. 28.
4. militaryhistory. about.com; “General Gavin Dead.” New York Times obituary, February 25, 1990.
5. James M. Gavin, On To Berlin: Battles of an Airborne Commander 1943–1946, New York: Viking Press, 1978, pp. 1–3.
6. Burns, p. 28.
7. All American: The Story of the 82nd Airborne Division, Paris, Stars and Stripes, 1945, pp. 17–18.
8. www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/parks-green-spaces/main-parks/braun stone-park/braunstone-history.
9. Bob Bearden, To D-Day and Back: Adventures with the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment and Life as a World War II POW, St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2007, p. 93.
10. Burns, pp. 10–11.
11. Milkovics, p. 93.
12. James Megellas, All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe, New York: Ballantine Books/Presidio Press, 2003, pp. 96–97.
13. Burns, pp. 10–11.
14. Larry Alexander, Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, the Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, New York: Berkeley Caliber, 2006, p. 166.
15. Otis Sampson, Time Out for Combat. Booksurge, 2005, p. 189.
16. Raynes Minns, Bombers and Mash: The Domestic Front 1939–45, London: Virago Press, 1999, pp. 163–173.
17. Nolan, p. 76.
18. John Ellis, p. 57.
Chapter 8: Pathfinders and Paradummies
1. Jeff Moran, American Airborne Pathfinders in World War II, Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2003, p. 10.
2. Ibid, p. 17.
3. Ibid, p. 23–27.
4. Ibid, p. 34.
6. Hugh Nibley and Alex Nibley, Sergeant Nibley, Ph.D.: Memories of an Unlikely Screaming Eagle, Salt Lake City, UT: Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2006, p. 95.
7. Moran, pp. 19–27.
8. Carlo D’Este, Patton: A Genius for War, New York: HarperCollins, 1995, pp. 592–594; Terry Crowdy, Deceiving Hitler: Double Cross and Deception in World War II, Oxford, UK: Osprey, 2008, pp. 243–245.
9. D-Day: 24 Hours that Saved the World, 65th Anniversary Tribute, New York: Time Books, 2004, p. 27.
11. George Freedman, “The Early Development and Manufacture of Paratrooper Dummies in WWII,” Oral history interview conducted by the USAF Historical Research Center Agency, January 1986, Office of Air Force History, Headquarters, USAF, Maxwell Air Force Base, AL.
12. John W. Gordon, The Other Desert War: British Special Forces in North Africa, 1940–1943, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood, 1987, p. 50.
13. 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group Operations Order No. 1, 31 May 1944.
14. home. att.net/~1.elliott/paratrooperdummyhistorysite
15. Charles Cruickshank, Deception in World War II, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1980, pp. 197–198.
Chapter 9: The British/Canadian Preparations
1. Arthur, pp. 122–124.
2. Nolan, p. 68.
5. Nolan, pp. 66–69.
6. Boegle, p. 112.
7. 9th Para War Diary, found at www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/war_9thBatt
8. David Howarth, Dawn of D-Day: These Men Were There, June 6, 1944, New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2008, pp.50–51.
9. Otway, BBC interview, 2004.
10. Howarth, pp. 52–53; www.pegasusarchive.org.
11. Chatterton, p. 131; www.pegasusarchive.org.
12. Nolan, pp. 70–71.
13. Arthur, p. 120.
14. Ibid, p. 119.
15. Chatterton, p. 130.
Chapter 10: The Sharpening of Knives
1. Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 169–170.
2. Devlin, Paratrooper, p. 129; George E. Koskimaki, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles, New York: Ballantine Books/Presidio Press, 2006, p. 47.
3. Minns, p. 176.
4. Bradley, p. 238.
5. Ruggero, p. 62.
6. Eisenhower, pp. 58–59.
7. Ken Small and Mark Rogerson, The Forgotten Dead: Why 946 American Servicemen Died Off The Coast Of Devon In 1944–And The Man Who Discovered Their True Story, London: Bloomsbury, 1988, passim; Bradley, pp. 248–249.
9. Randy Hils, Letter to Lt. Gen. (Ret.) E.M. Flanagan, January 17, 2003 (found at www.europa.com/~bessel/505thPIR/Hils1)
10. Bradley, p. 247.
11. Henry “Duke” Boswell, interviewed by author April 22, 2008.
12. Lynn “Buck” Compton (with Marcus Brotherton), Call of Duty: My Life Before, During, and After the Band of Brothers, New York: Berkeley Caliber, 2008, p. 100.
13. Otis Sampson, pp. 176, 179.
15. G.H. Bennett, Destination Normandy: Three American Regiments on D-Day, Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007, p.73.
16. Spencer F. Wurst and Gayle Wurst, Descending From the Clouds: A Memoir of Combat in the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Philadelphia: Casemate, 2007, pp. 121–122.
17. Henesy, p. 21.
18. Haskew and Brinkley, pp. 337, 338, 340; J.E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann, G.I. Joe in France: From Normandy to Berchtesgaden, Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2008, p. 153.
19. Vincent Wolf interview.
20. Wurst, pp. 117–118.
21. Marcus Brotherton, A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories About the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us, New York: Berkley Caliber, 2010, pp. 74–75.
22. Edward Barnes, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum; Ian Gardner and Roger Day, Tonight We Die as Men: The Untold Story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Toccoa to D-Day, Oxford, UK: Osprey, 2009, p. 115; Kaufmann, p. 153; Wurst, p. 117.
23. Kaufmann, pp. 150–151.
24. John Quick, Dictionary of Weapons and Military Terms, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973, p. 82.
25. Barnes, oral history transcript; Kaufmann, p. 151.
26. Ivan P. Mehosky, The Story of a Soldier: Edward S. Mehosky, Colonel (Ret.) U.S. Army, Infantry, from Private to Colonel: 1940–1971—WWII-Korea-Vietnam, privately published, 2006, p. 125.
27. Stephen E. Ambrose, D-Day, June 6, 1944—The Climactic Battle of World War II, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994, p. 191; Wurst, p. 116.
28. Kaufmann, p. 149.
29. Bradley, p. 235; Ken Ford and Steven J. Zaloga, Overlord: The D-Day Landings, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2009, pp. 128–129.
30. 82nd Airborne G-3 Report, 6 June 1944.
31. Eisenhower, p. 246.
32. Harry C. Butcher, My Three Years With Eisenhower, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1946, p. 552.
33. Bradley, p. 235.
34. Eisenhower, pp. 245–246.
35. Otis Sampson, pp. 187–189.
36. Bearden, p. 107.
38. Wurst, p. 116.
Chapter 11: The Decision to Go
1. Ford & Zaloga, p. 132.
2. Cornelius Ryan, The Longest Day, New York: Popular Library, 1950, p. 64.
3. Haskew and Brinkley, p. 12.
4. Francis L. Sampson, Look Out Below: A Story of the Airborne by a Paratrooper Padre, Sweetwater, TN: CUA Press, 1958, pp. 55–56.
5. Eisenhower, back cover, dust jacket.
6. David K. Webster, Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper’s Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich, New York: Dell, 2002, p. 35.
7. Eisenhower, p. 249.
9. Allen, “Untold Stories of D-Day,” National Geographic, June 2002, pp. 12–15.
10. Bradley, p. 263.
11. Butcher, p. 561.
12. Otis Sampson, pp. 187–189.
13. Wurst, p. 116.
14. Eisenhower, pp. 249–250.
15. Gardner & Day, pp. 110–111.
16. Francis Sampson, pp. 56–57.
17. Mehosky, p. 141.
18. Ibid, p. 136.
19. Gardner & Day, pp. 113–114.
20. Nibley, pp. 100–101.
21. Boswell interview.
22. Otis Sampson, pp. 187–188.
23. Haskew and Brinkley, p. 12.
24. Eisenhower, p. 238.
25. Butcher, p. 561.
26. Michael Korda, Ike: An American Hero, New York: Harper, 2007, pp. 54–55.
27. Ruggero, pp. 107–108.
28. Ambrose, D-Day, p. 193.
29. Ambrose, Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890–1952, Volume I, New York: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1983, p. 309.
30. Eisenhower, p. 252.
31. Otis Sampson, p. 187.
32. Devlin, Paratrooper, p. 379.
33. Otis Sampson, p. 189.
34. Mark Alexander and John Sparry, Jump Commander: In Combat with the 505th and 508th Parachute Infantry Regiments, 82nd Airborne Division in World War II, Philadelphia: Casemate, 2010, pp. 174–176.
35. Milkovics, pp. 93–94.
36. Wisherd, Elmer, interviewed by author May 7, 2008.
37. Henesy, p. 20.
38. www.6juin1944.com/veterans/rice.php.
39. Winters, p. 77.
40. Burns, p. 35.
41. Korda, p. 55.
42. Francis Sampson, p. 56.
43. Gardner and Day, p. 117.
44. John Keegan, Six Armies in Normandy, New York: Viking Press, 1982, p. 15.
Chapter 12: The British/Canadian Take-Off & Drop
2. Boegle, p. 152.
3. Ibid, p. 101.
4. Arthur, p. 136.
5. Nolan, p. 73.
6. Boegel, p. 212.
7. Nolan, pp. 73–74.
8. John Golley, The Big Drop: The Guns of Merville, June 1944, New York: Zebra/Kensington, 1982, pp. 157–159; Nolan, p. 76; Crookenden, p. 187; www.americandday.org.
9. Crookenden, p. 181.
10. Nolan, p. 73; Arthur, p. 136.
11. Arthur, p. 124.
12. “Jim Wallwork’s Story,” The Eagle (official newsletter of the Glider Pilot Regimental Association), August 2006, pp. 7–9.
13. Stanley Pearson, “Portrait of a Pilot,” The Eagle, April 1989, p. 3.
14. Arthur, pp. 119–124.
15. Nolan, pp. 74–76.
16. Boegle, p. 153.
17. Ibid, pp. 195–196.
18. Ibid, pp. 210–211.
19. Arthur, p. 124.
Chapter 13: Target: Sainte-Mere-Eglise
1. Liddell-Hart, p. 470.
2. Ryan, pp. 81–83; Keegan, p. 145; Ambrose, D-Day, p. 567.
4. Koskimaki, pp. 23–25.
5. Milkovics, pp. 93–94.
8. The Story of the 101st Airborne Division, Paris, Stars and Stripes, 1945, p. 12.
9. Milkovis, pp. 93–94.
10. “Normandy: 1944–1973,” After the Battle, Issue #1, 1973, pp. 35–37.
Chapter 14: The Canadian Drop
1. Boegel, p. 177.
2. Ibid, pp. 177–178.
3. Ibid, p. 153.
4. Nolan, p. 78.
5. Ibid, p. 81.
6. Boegel, p. 207.
7. Ibid, pp. 195–196.
8. Ibid, pp. 192–193.
9. Ibid, p. 212.
10. Ibid, pp. 202–203.
11. Ryan, p. 123.
12. Boegel, p. 155.
Chapter 15: The 101st’s Jump
1. Wisherd interview.
3. Mehosky, p. 142.
4. Earl McClung, interviewed by author March 12, 2009.
5. Wisherd interview.
7. Wisherd interview.
8. D-Day: 24 Hours that Saved the World, p. 27.
9. Wisherd interview.
10. D-Day: 24 Hours that Saved the World, p. 27.
11. Henesy, p. 20.
12. Kaufmann, pp. 161–162.
13. McClung interview.
14. Bill True and Deryck Tufts True, The Cow Spoke French: The Story of Sgt. William True, American Paratrooper in World War II, Bennington, VT: Merriam Press, 2007, pp. 72–73.
15. D-Day: 24 Hours that Saved the World, p. 27.
16. Doughty interview.
17. Webster, p. 48.
18. Ambrose, D-Day, p. 204.
19. Henesy, p. 17.
20. Ibid, pp. 19–20.
21. Malarkey, pp. 89–91.
22. Francis Sampson, p. 59.
23. Burns, pp. 40–41.
24. Tom Wiener, Forever a Soldier: Unforgettable Stories of Wartime Service. The Library of Congress Veterans History Project, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Books, 2005, pp. 11–14.
25. Koskimaki, pp. 182, 230–231.
26. Milkovics, p. 39.
27. Otis Sampson, p. 190.
28. Burns, p. 27.
29. Gavin, p. 105.
30. Kaufmann, p. 164.
31. Milkovics, pp. 59–60.
32. Barnes, oral history transcript.
33. Milkovics, p. 42.
34. James Eads, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
35. Milkovics, pp. 82–83.
36. David Thomas, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
37. Ruggero, pp. 129–130.
38. Milkovics, pp. 18–19.
39. Wurst, pp. 124–125.
40. Burns, pp. 37–39.
41. Harrison, pp. 286–287; Ryan, p. 29.
42. Milkovics, p. 19.
43. Ibid, p. 14.
44. Ibid, pp. 142–143.
45. Ibid, p. 41.
46. Barnes, oral history transcript.
Chapter 16: Shootout at the W-X-Y-Z Complex, the Fight for Brécourt Manor, and Other Skirmishes
1. “Battalion and Small Unit Study Number 9: Cassidy’s Battalion,” History Section, European Theater of Operations, 1945, passim; Greg Stone, “Medal of Honor Escapes Marion Man’s D-Day Feat,” Charleston (WV) Sunday Gazette Mail, June 6, 1999.
2. “Battalion and Small Unit Study Number 9: Cassidy’s Battalion,” p. 12.
3. www.normandie44lamemoire.com; www.freewebs.com/ddayweb/usairborne.
4. Doughty interview.
5. Brotherton, pp. 74–75.
6. Winters, pp. 57–87.
7. William Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron, Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story, New York: Berkeley Caliber, 2007, pp. 65–67.
8. Compton, pp. 183–186.
9. Winters, p. 85.
10. Guarnere, pp. 68–69.
11. Malarkey, pp. 99–100.
12. Compton, p. 187.
13. Richard Killblane and Jake McNiece, The Filthy Thirteen: From the Dustbowl to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest: The 101st Airborne’s Most Legendary Squad of Combat Paratroopers, Philadelphia: Casemate, 2006, pp. 73–91.
14. www.6juin1944.com/veterans/ingrisano.
15. Harrison, p. 293; Devlin, Paratrooper, p. 392; S.L.A. Marshall, Night Drop: The American Airborne Invasion of Normandy, New York: Jove Books, 1984, pp. 36–42; www.normandie44lamemoire.com.
16. Harrison, pp. 293–297; Nordyke, All Americans, p. 281; Devlin, Paratrooper, p. 392; Marshall, pp. 36–42; www.normandie44lamemoire.com.
17. Joseph Balkoski, Utah Beach: The Amphibious Landing and Airborne Operations on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2005, pp. 276–277.
18. Marshall, p. 41; battlebus.19.forumer.com.
20. Harrison, pp. 297–298.
Chapter 17: Battle for the Orne Bridges
1. Arthur, pp. 129–130.
3. Arthur, p. 119.
4. Ibid, p. 125.
5. James Wallwork, unpublished memoir.
6. “Normandy 1944–1973,” After the Battle, pp. 2–3; Stephen E. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, June 6, 1944, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985, pp. 89–90.
7. Wallwork, unpublished memoir.
9. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, pp. 101–102.
11. Crookenden, p. 185.
13. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, pp. 106–107.
15. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, p. 104.
16. Ibid, pp. 106–110
17. Wallwork, unpublished memoir.
19. Ibid.
20. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, pp. 118–119.
Chapter 18: Disaster at the Merville Battery
1. Hans von Luck, Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck, New York: Dell, 1989, pp. 169–173.
2. Ambrose, D-Day, p. 227; www.batterie-merville.com; Steiner, Raimund, “Ich schämte mich, sie zu erschießen,” Stern, June 3, 2004.
3. Devlin, Paratrooper, p. 402.
4. Howarth, p. 36.
6. H.S.G. Saunders, p. 182; Crookenden, p. 203.
7. Golley, p. 172.
9. Howarth, p. 36; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 181.
11. Crookenden, pp. 203–206; Neil Barber, The Day the Devils Dropped In: The 9th Parachute Battalion in Normandy, D-Day to D + 6–The Merville Battery to the Chateau St. Come, Barnsley, UK, 2004, pp. 46–56.
12. Otway, BBC interview.
13. Howarth, pp. 39–44; H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 182–184.
14. Howarth, p. 41; Crookenden, p. 205.
15. Crookenden, p. 206.
16. Golley, p. 190; Barber, p. 76.
17. Howarth, p. 44; Barber, pp. 81–86.
18. Robin Neillands and Roderick de Normann, D-Day 1944: Voices from Normandy, London: Cold Spring Press, 2004, p. 108; www.pegasusarchive.org.
19. Ryan, p. 178.
20. Howarth, pp. 44–45; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 208; Golley, pp. 199–202.
21. Barber, p. 90.
22. Howarth, p. 45.
23. Michael Dowling, BBC interview.
24. Golley, pp. 193–197.
25. Ibid, p. 200; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 185; Otway, BBC interview.
26. Raimund Steiner, “Ich schämte mich, sie zu erschießen,” Stern, June 3, 2004.
27. Barber, p. 90.
28. Ibid, p. 93.
29. Howarth, p. 45; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 185; Golley, p. 204; Barber, p. 92.
30. Barber, p. 91.
31. Ibid, pp. 95–97; Golley, pp. 209–211.
32. Barber, p. 95.
33. Barber, pp. 94–95; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 185; Howarth, p. 60.
A chaplain, The Reverend John Gwinnett, and his driver were at Brigade Headquarters at Le Mesnil, where the 224th Parachute Field Ambulance was based. Upon learning about the wounded being left at the farm, they took a small Wehrmacht truck to the scene and brought them to Le Mesnil. The vehicle could only carry four men at a time, requiring them to make several trips back and forth while dodging German columns and German fire. (Golley, p. 214)
Chapter 19: Securing Pegasus Bridge
1. Crookenden, pp. 188–189.
2. Arthur, p. 165.
3. Ibid, p. 137.
4. www.paradata.org.uk; www.ww2talk.com.
5. Crookenden, p. 185; Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, p. 119.
6. Douglas Wight, “‘Bullets Zipped By as I Jumped. I Hit the Ground 6 Seconds Later and Came Under Intense Fire’—Movie Legend Richard Todd Remembers D-Day,” News of the World, May 31, 2009.
7. Ryan, p. 119.
9. Wight.
11. Wallwork memoir.
12. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, pp. 135–136; www.pegasusarchive.org.
13. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, p. 135.
14. Ibid, p. 135.
15. Chatterton, pp. 140–141.
16. Crookenden, p. 197.
17. Chatterton, p. 152.
19. Ambrose, Pegasus Bridge, pp. 128–129; www.pegasusarchive.org.
21. Ibid.
22. Barber, correspondence with author, January 14, 2011.
24. Ibid.
Chapter 20: Death at the Chateau, Battle at the Crossroads
1. John Willes, Out of the Clouds: The History of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, self-published, 1987, p. 71.
2. Nolan, p. 96.
3. David Charles Douglas, William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact upon England, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964, pp. 71–72.
4. Boegle, p. 211.
5. Willes, p. 72; Nolan, pp. 96–97.
6. Boegle, p. 141.
7. Willes, p. 72–73.
8. Horn and Wyczynski, p. 185.
9. Willes, p. 73.
10. Boegle, p. 196; Willes, p. 73.
11. Boegle, pp. 144, 146.
12. Ibid, pp. 162–163.
13. Ibid, p. 213.
14. Ibid, p. 197.
15. Ibid, p. 219.
17. Ibid.
18. Boegle, p. 204.
19. Ibid, p. 137.
20. Ibid, p. 211.
21. Ibid, pp. 122, 126.
22. Ibid, p. 147.
23. Steiner.
25. gareth–hurley.blogspot.com
26. Crookenden, pp. 203–209; Howarth, pp. 36–46; Golley, pp. 223–245; Barber, pp. 107–111; www.pegasusarchive.org.
28. Arthur, pp. 137–138.
Chapter 21: Battle of Sainte-Mère-Église
1. Wurst, pp. 124–125.
2. Ryan, p. 131.
3. Boswell interview.
4. Wolf interview.
5. Ryan, p. 130.
6. Ryan, p. 158; “Normandy 1944–1973,” After the Battle, Issue #1, pp. 35–37.
7. Howarth, p. 94.
8. Ryan, p. 132; “Normandy 1944–1973,” After the Battle, Issue #1, p. 37.
9. Wolf interview; Ryan, p. 132–133.
One of the German soldiers, Corporal Rudolph May, was up in the church’s bell tower when the airborne attack came. Noticing Steele dangling outside one of the openings in the steeple, May said, “There was a man hanging there, suspended. He hung there like he was dead—but after a while he started moving. Then we also heard him sighing.” May’s comrade raised his weapon as if to shoot him, but May stopped him. He decided to try and cut the suspension lines of Steele’s chute. After he had cut several, he threw Steele a rope by which he could lower himself to the ground and be taken prisoner. (Murphy, p. 207)
10. Ryan, p. 131.
12. Ambrose, D-Day, p. 236.
13. Ruggero, p. 138.
14. Wurst, p. 128.
15. Wolf interview.
16. Otis Sampson, pp. 192–193.
17. Wurst, p. 128.
18. Mark Alexander, p. 168.
19. Wolf interview.
20. Ruggero, p. 154.
21. Harrison, pp. 289–290.
22. Boswell interview.
23. Wurst, p. 129.
24. Wolf interview.
25. Otis Sampson, p. 193.
26. Franco interview.
27. Bando, 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy, p. 78; www.6juin1944.com.
Chapter 22: Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer
1. Scott M. Fisher, “Just Follow the Rope: WWII Glider Pilots Remember,” Flight Journal, February 2002, p. 22.
2. Devlin, Silent Wings, p. 176.
4. Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 176–178.
5. Ibid, p. 183.
6. Richard Denison, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
7. Robert Butler, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
8. Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 183–185.
9. Day, pp. 79–81; Leon B. Spencer, “The Death of General Don F. Pratt,” found at worldwar2gliderpilots.blogspot.com.
10. Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 177.
11. Richard Denison, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
12. Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 188–189.
13. Len Lebenson, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
14. Len Lebenson, Surrounded by Heroes: Six Campaigns with Division Headquarters, 82nd Airborne Division, 1942–1945, Philadelphia: Casemate, 2010, p. 113.
15. Lebenson, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
16. George Despotis, Donald E. Korte, and Matthew Lary, eds., Victory Through Valor: A Collection of World War II Memoirs, St. Louis, MO: Reedy Press, 2008, pp. 213–214.
17. John L. Lowden, Silent Wings at War: Combat Gliders in World War II, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 1992, p. 73.
18. Otis Sampson, p. 192–193.
19. Wurst, pp. 128–129.
21. Butcher, pp. 566–567.
Chapter 23: Hell in the Hedgerows
1. Koskimaki, p. 157.
2. Gavin, pp. 105–108.
3. Ibid.
4. Milkovics, p. 78.
5. Wurst, p. 127.
6. Milkovics, p. 69.
7. Despotis, et al, pp. 17–18.
Chapter 24: The Battle for Chef-du-Pont & La Fiere Bridge
1. Murphy, p. 48.
2. Harrison, pp. 292–292; Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 250–251.
3. Murphy, pp. 28–29.
4. Ibid, p. 35.
5. Marshall, pp. 45–46.
6. Letter, Dolan to Gavin, March 15, 1959.
7. Nordyke, All Americans, p. 299; Murphy, p. 151.
8. Milkovics, p. 94.
9. Martin K.A. Morgan, Down to Earth: The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Normandy, June 6–July 15, 1944, Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 2010, pp. 185–186; Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 279–280.
10. Morgan, pp. 187–188.
11. Milkovics, p. 78.
12. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 280–281, 287–290, 358.
13. Murphy, p. 58.
14. Morgan, p. 179.
15. Ibid, pp. 181–182.
16. Murphy, pp. 50–60; Morgan, pp. 178–179.
17. Milkovics, p. 88.
18. Nordyke, All Americans, p. 261.
19. Dolan, letter to Gavin.
20. Nordyke, Four Stars of Valor: The Combat History of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II, St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2006, pp. 174–176.
21. Gavin, pp. 108–109.
22. Nordyke, Four Stars of Valor, pp. 176–177.
23. Mark Alexander, p. 190.
24. Ibid, p. 192; Nordyke, Four Stars of Valor, p. 279.
25. Mark Alexander, pp. 184–192.
Chapter 25: D-Day Plus 1—And Beyond
1. Clinton Riddle, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
2. Alfred J. Nigl and Charles A. Nigl, Silent Wings, Savage Death: Saga of the 82nd Airborne’s Glider Artillery in World War II, privately published, 2007, pp. 79–80.
3. Edgar Schroeder, oral history transcript, National World War II Museum.
4. Nordyke, All Americans, p. 231.
5. Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson, Strom: The Complicated Political and Personal Life of Strom Thurmond, New York: PublicAffairs, 2005, passim.
6. Bradley, p. 278.
7. Butcher, p. 570.
8. Wisherd, interview.
9. Marshall, pp. 39–42.
10. Milkovics, p. 58.
11. Ibid, p. 106.
12. Gavin, pp. 111–113.
13. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 241–242.
14. Ibid, p. 304.
15. Ibid, p. 243; Otis Sampson, p. 194.
16. Otis Sampson, p. 207.
17. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 313–314.
18. Gavin, pp. 111–113.
Chapter 26: The Battle for Bréville
1. Howarth, pp. 36–47; Golley, pp. 222–224; Crookenden, pp. 247–249; H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 178–186; Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 202–204; Barber, p. 172.
3. Crookenden, pp. 248, 253.
4. Crookenden, pp. 264–279; www.6juin1944.com.
5. Howarth, pp. 36–47; Golley, pp. 222–224; Crookenden, pp. 262–267; H.S.G. Saunders, pp. 178–186; Devlin, Silent Wings, pp. 202–204; Chatterton, pp. 128–129.
Chapter 27: Final Fight for La Fiere
1. Gavin, p. 115; Murphy, pp. 193–196.
2. Murphy, p. 195; www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII.
3. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 358–359.
4. Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers: The American Airborne in World War II, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985, pp. 273–274; Wayne Pierce, Let’s Go! The Story of the Men Who Served in the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, Chapel Hill, NC: Professional Press, 1997, pp. 141–142; Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 343–346.
5. Blair, p. 273.
6. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 347–351.
7. Gavin, pp. 116–117.
9. Murphy, pp. 180–183.
11. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 349–350.
12. Gavin, p. 117.
13. Murphy, pp. 180–183.
14. Ibid, pp. 185–186.
15. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 348–351.
16. Paul Woodage, unpublished monograph, “Richard B. Johnson—The Forgotten Hero of the Causeway Charge.”
17. Nordyke, All Americans, pp. 348–351.
19. Gavin, pp. 116–119.
Chapter 28: The Battles for Carentan & Graignes
1. Morgan, pp. 232–262; Dalton Einhorn, From Toccoa to the Eagle’s Nest: Discoveries in the Bootsteps of the Band of Brothers, privately published, 2009, pp. 142–145.
2. Harrison, p. 356.
3. www.paratrooper-museum.org.
5. Harrision, pp. 356–359.
6. Ibid, pp. 359–360.
7. “Paratroopers Fight to Capture French Junction,” Sedalia (MO) Democrat, December 4, 2007.
8. Einhorn, p. 157.
9. Harrison, p. 359; Einhorn, p. 156.
10. Einhorn, pp. 155–156.
12. Donald R. Burgett, Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at Normandy, New York: Dell Publishing, 1967, p. 174–176.
13. Harrison, p. 359.
14. Morgan, pp. 242–254.
15. Killblane & McNiece, pp. 91–92; Ambrose, D-Day, p. 247.
16. Compton, p. 109.
17. Nibley, pp. 130–131.
18. Malarkey, pp. 105–106.
19. Harrison, pp. 360–364.
20. Compton, pp. 110–111.
21. Winters, p. 108.
22. Morgan, pp. 232–262.
Chapter 29: Coming Back/Epilogue
1. Haskew and Brinkley, pp. 201–202, 212–213.
2. Compton, pp. 110–111.
3. Milkovics, pp. 93–94.
4. Ibid, p. 64.
6. John C. Warren, Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater, Maxwell, AL: Maxwell Air Force Base, USAF Historical Studies: No. 97, 1956.
8. Nolan, p. 117; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 323.
9. Nolan, p. 117; H.S.G. Saunders, p. 202.
10. Ibid, pp. 119–196.
11. Shelby L. Stanton, Order of Battle, U.S. Army, World War II, New York: Galahad, 1984.
12. Milkovics, p. 218; U.S. Army Consolidated Casualty Report, adjusted to 12 December 1944.
13. www.6juin1944.com; www.ww2-airborne.us.
14. “Training and Employment of Glider Pilots.”
15. Francis Sampson, p. 75.
16. Boegel, p. 432.
17. Otis Sampson, pp. 272–274.
18. Wight.